This is the third edition of a book which has established itself as a standard work on the British welfare state for students and general readers alike. Rodney Lowe incorporates recent developments and the latest research, providing a clear guide to the evidence on which to base informed judgments on the past record, and future prospects, of the welfare state in Britain.

The welfare state arouses controversy whether attention is focused on its recent past or future development. Leading experts in welfare history draw together the latest research in essays combining broad policy surveys and detailed case studies. The key questions are 'What is a welfare state?' and 'How can it best be analysed?'. The history of the British welfare state suggests that the traditional approach has been too narrow. Current policy should be informed by a greater sense of history.

This new analysis of housing policy in Britain since 1945 challenges conventional notions of the relationship between housing and the welfare state. It argues that housing policy in the years after the Second World War is better understood in terms of market restructuring. However, in more recent years housing has been at the forefront of changes that have drawn it closer to other welfare state services, and the modernisation of public services is continuing the trend.

This is a unique and timely survey of the evolving priorities of the British welfare state since its inception in the late 1940s, with an emphasis on how current and future aims and features of welfare provision compare with the ambitions of its original architects. In this book, 15 commentators, including prominent academic experts in the field, and also members of think tanks, charities and campaigning organisations – with a foreword by the BBC’s Huw Edwards, explore themes such as health, education, housing, gender, disability and ethnic diversity. The result of this study is a rich, critical and thought-provoking exploration of the legacy and prospects of the welfare state – worth reading by anyone with an interest in debates on how a modern society should meet the needs of its citizens.

The British Welfare State initially seemed to promise welfare for all, but excluded millions of disabled people. This book examines attempts in the subsequent three decades to reverse this exclusion. It also provides the first major analysis of the Disablement Income Group and the Thalidomide campaign.

Over the last 200 years Britain has witnessed profound changes in the nature and extent of state welfare. Drawing on the latest historical and social science research The Origins of the British Welfare State looks at the main developments in the history of social welfare provision in this period. It looks at the nature of problems facing British society in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries and shows how these provided the foundation for the growth of both statutory and welfare provision in the areas of health, housing, education and the relief of poverty. It also examines the role played by the Liberal government of 1906-14 in reshaping the boundaries of public welfare provision and shows how the momentous changes associated with the First and Second World Wars paved the way for the creation of the 'classic' welfare state after 1945. This comprehensive and broad-ranging yet accessible account encourages the reader to question the 'inevitability' of present-day arrangements and provides an important framework for comparative analysis. It will be essential reading for all concerned with social policy, British social history and public policy.

A TIMES POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR A LONGMAN/HISTORY TODAY BOOK OF THE YEAR The award-winning history of the British Welfare State – now fully revised and updated for the 21st Century. ‘A masterpiece’ Sunday Times

"Many recent attacks on the welfare state are in the name of liberalism. However, the welfare state was the creation of liberals, who included many economists, as much as socialists. Focusing on economists' arguments, this book looks at the way different types of liberalism, from the early twentieth century British New Liberals, to German Ordoliberals, Japanese Liberals, and modern Neoliberals have engaged with the welfare state. It provides a comparative analysis of economists' attitudes to the welfare state in three countries, each of which had a different tradition of economic thinking and different institutions for welfare provision. This is complemented with papers on the international dimension, which explore different neoliberal visions of the relation between supra-national institutions and the welfare state, and how neoliberals responded to the global financial crisis. An important lesson from the book is that liberalism has not been synonymous with either the "classical" Liberalism of Locke and Mill or with modern neoliberalism, but encompasses positions that are much more supportive of welfare provision by the state"--

This is a new edition of one of the most widely used texts on the history of social policy in Britain. Covering the period from the end of the Second World War to the present day, Howard Glennerster focuses on the Welfare State to explore the myths that have shaped popular conceptions of social policy, and which continue to dominate current debates. From the earliest days of the Welfare State, to New Labour's reform commitments for the new century, Glennerster concludes that social policy can only ever be understood in the context of the political and economic concerns of the time. For this third edition the author provides a new final chapter covering New Labour's policy in the twenty-first century and updates the book's earlier chapters, tables, charts, and select bibliography.

The nature of the British "Welfare State", established in the 1940s through the acceptance of the Beveridge Report's recommendations and assumption, has long been the subject of an inconclusive debate, even though knowledge of its history has increased as official papers have become open to access under the thirty year rule. What aims, interests and forces shaped its development before and after the Beveridge Report's appearance, from the Liberal innovations in social policy before 1914 to the collapse of full employment in the 1970s? This book examines the answers to such questions provided by recent historical research and discussion, offering a critical and comprehensive study of the modernization of social policy in Britain.

A fully revised and rewritten second edition of a book which is now regarded as a classic. Takes full advantage of new research and places strong emphasis on voluntary action and the role of women in the shaping of social policy. It retains the excellent historical perspective that makes it unique among its competitors, comparing recent policy changes to pre-1950 welfare policy.

Britain since 1945 is the established textbook on contemporary British political history since the end of the Second World War. David Childs' authoritative chronological survey discusses domestic policy and politics in particular, but also covers external and international relations. This new and improved seventh edition of this important book brings the picture to the present by including the following additions: Tony Blair's resignation and Gordon Brown's accession to power immigration the financial crisis from 2007: the first bank run in Britain since 1866 the 'Special-relationship' with the US and Obama the 2010 General elcetion and the first coalition government since 1945 'Broken Britain' and Crime the era of ‘owned by China' and Britain’s place in a turbulent world. Britain since 1945 is essential reading for any student of contemporary British history and politics.

This new edition of one of the key texts on the history of social policy has been completely updated and amended and now includes a completely new chapter on changes since the 1997 General Election, further information on the Thatcher years, and more cross-country comparisons.